Raymond van Barneveld to skip UK Open Qualifying 3

Raymond van Barneveld will skip UK Open Qualifying 3 after an unlikely case of lightning striking twice. The five-time world champion lost 6-5 to Krzysztof Ratajski in the last 128 of the first event on Friday. Incredibly, he drew the Pole again in Wigan on Saturday, in the very same round. Ratajski repeated the feat, running out a 6-2 winner.
Barney had been in fine form, reaching the World Championship quarter-finals and the Masters final. But the Dutchman struggled at times in his opening Premier League match. A 6-6 draw with a wasteful Daryl Gurney was all van Barneveld could muster. He met an in-form Ratajski in the qualifying events, and came off worst each time. The first two events were a success for the World Masters champion. His run on Friday ended in the last 32, before he reached the quarter-finals on Saturday.
Ratajski sits 11th in the UK Open Order of Merit, in between Richard North and Gerwyn Price. Having earned no prize money across the first two events, van Barneveld is outside the top 96. That means that he will need good performances in events 4-6 to make it to Minehead.
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